Patients Zero (Dramione)
by Alysha Ray Ackles
Summary: Everyone is born with a timer that counts down to a major life event but they aren't told what it is. One fateful day, Hermione Granger is walking home when she realizes her timer is low. Draco Malfoy is transferring a new potion him and his business partner made to be tested when he gets distracted by his own watch. What happens when they bump into each other after all this time?
1. Final Countdown

**Chapter 1 - Final Countdown**

* * *

"Ms. Granger?" A quiet voice said.

"Yes, Melody?" Hermione Granger answered as she looked up from her desk.

"It's time to go home," the receptionist fresh from Hogwarts explained.

"Is it 7 already?" Hermione asked rhetorically as she looked at her clock on the wall. "Well I guess it is, thank you Melody," she said before beginning to pack up her things.

"Of course," Melody replied and began to walk out then paused half way out the door. "Um, Ms. Granger?" She asked meekly turning back around.

"What is it?" Hermione asked patiently.

"Your ex-husband is at the front waiting for you again," the receptionist informed her.

"Ron," Hermione sighed tiredly.

Her and Ron Weasley were married not too long after going back and graduating from Hogwarts and after quite a few years, they decided to separate. They were officially divorced after a little over a year of remaining separated, it took so long due to the fact that Ron had made it take that long.

They both discovered they were too different, they wanted different things and that wasn't going to change...well at least Hermione realized that wasn't going to change. Ron kept trying to convince her that they should try again even a year later, which is why the divorce took so long.

He started out sending her flowers after she told him no the first few times. But then he began to wait for her to get out of work so they could talk, like he is in this situation.

"Do you want me to tell him to bugger off?" Melody suggested.

"Thank you, but I'm just going to go out the back," Hermione said.

"Ok," the black haired witch said looking back out the window where she first spotted him. "He'll get it eventually and before you know it you'll find someone you'll be happy with," she added with a nod.

"Yeah, I hope so," Hermione said wishfully as she went to look out the same window, only to see the familiar red hair of her ex-husband.

"Well I know so, your timer hadn't gone off yet right?" Melody mentioned.

It was true, even through everything she's been through and all the major life events she's experienced, her timer was still ticking. When she was still with Ron, Hermione began to believe it would be when they had their first child, but now she wasn't sure.

Hermione glanced at her timer longingly, what could it be? She gasped, the timer was so almost up!

"What is it?" The receptionist questioned. But Hermione couldn't talk, she just showed her the timer excitedly.

"Oh my gosh! You better get going then!" Melody said happily.

"Yes yes, of course! Uh bye Melody!" Hermione grabbed her bag and headed down to the back exit of the Ministry of Magic.

She watched the numbers count down on her wrist as she walked down the road opposite of where Ron Weasley was. She watched as the numbers got lower, 5...4...3...

In her excitement, she wasn't watching where she was going and ran into something, or someone. This person was holding something and upon impact, it shattered and spilled some liquid on her.

"Shit!" Hermione heard the unknown man exclaim.

"Oh no, I'm so sorr-" she began to apologize but she was cut short.

She had looked up to find that the stranger was also covered in the substance and that that person was none other than, Draco Malfoy. He has kept his head low when it came to the press since the war other than for his thriving potions business.

"Malfoy," Hermione says a bit cautious, eyeing him up and down both in surprise and caution.

He turned his gaze to her and surprise spread across his face. Apparently Draco wasn't expecting her as much as she wasn't expecting him.

"H-Hermione?" Draco said in disbelief.

"Yes," she confirmed.

"Well I'll be damned, I haven't seen you since graduation," Draco said in pleasant surprise.

"It has been a long time," Hermione said a bit confused about his pleasant tone.

"How's adult life been treating you?" Draco asked genuinely curious.

"Oh it's been well I suppose but um I actually have an appointment in a moment," she answered trying to leave.

"Oh," Draco said a little disappointed. "Well it's nice to see you again," he added.

"Likewise, have a nice day," Hermione said to be polite before she continued on her walk back home.

Draco turns around and begins walking in the direction he was previously going before pausing a few steps later.

"What was I doing?" He asked himself out loud.

He looks around before noticing the purple liquid spilled all over himself. Looking around at the ground where him and Hermione were just standing, he saw it was splashed all over the both of them. What was that? He wondered before remembering.

The potion!

He was carrying a potion him and his business partner, Blaise Zabini, had begun to develop so that they could start to test it and make it better. It undoubtedly has a lot of things wrong with it and he had just splashed it all over himself and Hermione Granger.

After processing what had just occurred, he began running in the direction Hermione had just gone. He had to tell her.

"Hermione!" He called out as soon as he saw her walking along.

He saw her tense and put her hand near a pocket that undoubtedly holds her wand before turning to see who it was. But she didn't get to see who was coming at her before he grabbed her arm unintentionally rough.

At that moment, the both of them felt some sort of electricity flow through their entire bodies. It was like nothing either of them had ever felt before and it left them shaken.

"Let go of me!" Hermione insisted as she shoved his arm away and without another word, she apparated back to her home.

"Dammit!" He cursed loudly in the empty street.

As soon as Hermione apparated in her home, she locked her door and made sure all her windows were shut and secure. _What the hell was that all about? _She Wondered furiously. That whole scene left her feeling very anxious and shaken but she tried to calm herself down the best that she could.

"It's ok, Hermione. Everything's fine. Just sit down and read a book for awhile, maybe turn on the television too for background noise," she said trying to sooth herself.

So she turned on the television to a random channel before going to her bookshelf and grabbing a book she's been reading recently. She got curled up in a blanket on the couch with a view of the door and tv before beginning to read.

Eventually she had stayed there reading long enough that she was absorbed in the story. Everything else seemed not to matter to Hermione as her eyes graced the pages. As the night drew longer, Hermione's eyes became heavy and she fell asleep.


	2. Whole New World pt 1

**Chapter 2 - Whole New World pt 1**

* * *

When Hermione woke up the next day, she rolled over so that the light wasn't in her face anymore. She sighed as she noticed how comfortable this bed was.

Wait a minute, didn't she fall asleep on the couch last night? Hermione tried to remember if she eventually moved to her bed but to no avail. And since when did her bed have silky sheets? Hers were more soft and fluffy rather than what she was feeling.

Hermione opened her eyes and squinted to adjust her to the lighting. She looked around the room she was in in horror. This was _not_ her room! This wasn't even in her _flat_!

She sat up in the bed and tried her best not to panic. There hast to be a reasonable explanation for why she isn't home, right?

So she sat up in the black/dark green colored bed and looked around for clues as to where on earth she is. Now that her eyes were adjusted to the light coming from a window above the bed, she could see that there wasn't that much in here.

It wasn't until she saw a few photos that she got out of the insanely comfortable bed. She almost fell when she tried to stand, has she always been this tall? Once she got her balance she carefully walked over to the wardrobe to the first picture.

Her mouth almost dropped at what she saw. It was Draco Malfoy and what Hermione knew to be his wife Astoria, laughing at something on a beach. Hermione had never seen Draco laugh, at least not like that. He actually looked happy.

She shook her head at where her thoughts were going, no she was looking at these pictures to figure out where she is and not to admire how handsome he is when he genuinely smiles. Problem is, she doesn't know where Draco Malfoy lives. Would he still live in Malfoy Manor? Or would he have his own place with Astoria?

Hermione turned to the next picture on the wardrobe. It was a picture from Draco and Astoria's wedding, Hermione remembered it from when it was all over the Daily Profit. While she doesn't have a subscription for the Daily Profit anymore as she had discontinued it after all the things they had begun to say about her divorce with Ron.

Walking over to one of the doors, she felt an odd breeze but decided to ignore it. _Draco's room is oddly cold, _Hermione thought before stepping out of the room cautiously.

She was met with a long and wide hallway with a few paintings of people she didn't know. Looking both ways for any more surprises, she stepped out entirely from the room she was previously. Hermione began to walk down the hallway when she noticed a blond man step out.

It was Lucius Malfoy.

And he was...smiling?

"Good morning, Draco," Lucius said after seeing her confusing Hermione. "I do hope you plan on putting on more clothes before breakfast," he quipped before walking down the hallway and away from her.

Hermione bolted back into the room she was in previously and looked down at herself. Gasping in surprise, she never would have expected what she saw.

She was only in boxers. Not only that, she didn't exactly look like a _she_!

She ran her hands through her hair trying to get a grip on herself but her hands stopped too short. Hermione knew her hair wasn't this short yesterday. What the bloody hell was going on here?

She quickly went into the only other door in the room, assuming it was the bathroom. Luckily, she was right and she went directly to the mirror.

There staring back at her wasn't her at all.

It was Draco Malfoy...in only his boxers.

Hermione was beyond surprised. She lifted up her arm and watched as the Draco in the mirror did the same thing. She put her hands to her hair and saw as she felt how short it was while watching her supposed reflection do the same. She touched her nose, mouth, ears and arms while the man in the mirror seemed to do exactly that as well.

She heard the door open and the sound of heels clanking on hardwood before seeing Narcissa Malfoy come into view. Hermione had to admit, the Malfoy woman had aged well. Narcissa still looked as stunning and intimidating than ever, but there was something about her posture right now that didn't seem threatening.

"Draco," Narcissa said in a light scolding voice, "put on some clothes! Breakfast is ready you know," she continued before walking someplace else.

_This may be weird, no this is weird, but I have to put some clothes on_, Hermione thought. She looked down at her new body again, while Hermione would never admit it out loud, Draco didn't look bad without a shirt on.

Shaking her head as if to get rid of those kind of thoughts, she walked over and began to look through the walk-in closet she had noticed earlier. Hermione was surprised to find it was bigger than she expected, also that it had more clothes than she was expecting.

On one side was all suits, dress shoes and thing of that nature but the other side was completely empty of everything. There wasn't even hangers on the other side of the closet. Hermione thought it was odd how she didn't see any feminine clothes anywhere, where were Astoria's clothes?

Yet another question about how Draco Malfoy lives his life. Hermione looked through the clothes that were in the closet and picked out something she thought would look nice on him..or her she supposed.

Hermione finally chose a white button up shirt with a grey vest and a grey jacket. She found the most comfortable dress shoes he had and some grey slacks. She put them all on awkwardly, not used to the lack of lady parts before going back into the bathroom.

She looked at how she dressed and smiled happily at what she had chosen. _Draco does look pretty good in these, _Hermione thought. She kept adjusting the uncomfortable jacket until she threw it aside.

"Screw the jacket, I -erm I mean- he looks better without it," Hermione said above a mumble.

Walking back out of the bathroom, she began to walk towards the door when she noticed something on the nightstand that caught her eye so she came closer.

It was a wand.

Hermione logically assumed this wand was Draco's as it didn't look anything like hers. He must've forgotten it when before...well whatever had happened. She took the wand and put it in its pocket, which she noticed was tailored to have a special wand pocket that can be easily hidden.

She took a deep breath before walking out of the room and into the hallway where she had seen Lucius. Debating which way to go, she concludes that this must be Malfoy Manor and it might be better to go where Lucius had.

So she walked in the direction she had seen him go and while she had no idea where the kitchen was, she figured she'd find out. She walked and walked down this hallway and found that it was _very_ long.

Eventually, she was saved by the smell of food and not just a few kinds, it smelt like it was a feast! She followed the smell until she was met by two white double doors and the strong smell of delicious food. Opening the doors, she was greeted by the two people she was hoping weren't in there.

"And the boy finally decides to join us," Lucius says as he sat down at a very large table.

"Oh hush Lucius. Good morning Draco, did you sleep well?" Narcissa asked warmly.

"I um slept very well, thank you mum," Hermione said trying to say something she thought Draco would. Surprisingly even her voice sounded like his, that ruled out Polyjuice Potion.

The sound of glass breaking made Hermione look up, Narcissa had dropped the plate she was holding. The two of them stopped what they were doing at that moment to look at her. Lucius looked rather surprised while Narcissa looked as if she was about to cry. Oh no, what had Hermione done?


	3. Whole New World pt 2

**A/N: One of my friends who is helping me come up with ideas for this story wanted me to let you know she says hi. She's super excited about this story so it'd be awesome if you guys could please comment a hi for her.**

**Chapter 3 - Whole New World pt 2**

* * *

Readjusting in his sleep, Draco Malfoy woke up to a sharp pain in his side. He grabbed his side to find a box shaped thing was stabbing him. Opening his eyes, he saw that the thing causing his pain and discomfort was a book.

_That's odd_, Draco thought, _I don't remember reading last night._

He picked the book up and sat up to get a better look at it when he felt a painful crick in his neck. Draco rubbed his hand over the sore spot before he noticed he was laying on a couch, in a place he didn't recognize.

What the bloody hell was going on? Where is he? How'd he get here?

Before Draco could ponder these questions any further, he heard a foreign beeping noise coking from someplace in the house. Before he could think twice he jumped up on his feet while searching his pockets for his wand. Even after all these years, the training from the wizarding war was engraved in him.

He felt his heart stop for a split second once he realized he didn't have it on him.

Looking around everywhere for his wand, or _any_ wand really, Draco tried to think of what that being meant. Was it one of those muffle destruction devices? He could never remember what they're called, bombs maybe?

Finally he found a wand. It wasn't his wand but something about it seemed strangely familiar, but he decided not to worry about it for now. Right now, he had to find out what that stressful noise is. So he grabbed the wand and cautiously walked toward the noise that's caused all this fuss.

Walking down a narrow hall Draco paused when he realized that it was behind one of the doors. He steeled himself with one lady breath before barging in.

It was a kitchen.

Draco looked around but it didn't take long to find out that it was coming from one of the machines on the counter. It was shaped kind of like a box but it also had a kettle like thing attached with some dark brown liquid inside. It kind of looked like something he's seen when he took Muggle Studies in Hogwarts.

Before exploring it further, he tried to figure out how to make it stop making that bloody sound. He pressed a button that said END and it finally stopped.

Now that that crisis is over, Draco took another glance at the wand he was holding in his hand. It didn't have a handle like his, instead it was more designed to look as if there was Ivy spiraling around it.

And like a ton of bricks, it hit him.

The potion he was carrying yesterday to begin testing it for his business. Being bumped into by someone he hadn't seen in a very long time and spilling the potion on them both. And more importantly, who's wand this belonged to.

Hermione freaking Granger.

Draco darted to the first reflective surface he could find and looked at himself. Praying that he wasn't right, that this has all been a dream perhaps.

"Oh Merlin," he said horrified at what he saw.

He definitely wasn't Draco Malfoy anymore.

There, starring back at him was a girl with dark brown hair in a messy bun and big brown doe eyes. He was indeed Hermione Granger. His voice even sounded exactly like the girl labeled a know-it-all.

From her not so bushy head of hair all the way to her short legs, there was no doubt anymore that the potion had done its job. It had switched Hermione into Draco's body and Draco into Hermione's. Which means that he is currently in her home...and she is in his.

"Shit," he exclaimed frustrated at this mess he's gotten into.

Draco walked throughout the place, which from what he could tell was a flat father than an actual house, before going back into the room he had woken up in. _At least no one else decided to stay the night at Hermione's last night_, Draco thought.

He looked around wondering what to do next until his eyes landed on the book he had earlier moved onto the coffee table. He went over and picked it up guessing that she must have fallen asleep while reading last night.

Draco read the title out loud, "Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Oh I hope it isn't some sappy romance."

He curiously open the book to the first page and began reading it. _"Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."_

This caught Draco's attention quite easily, he read the rest of the page before eagerly turning to the next. He was hooked.

It wasn't until a few house later when there was a knock at the door that Draco stopped reading. He looked up from the pages toward the door on the other side of the room, not daring to make another move. He hoped and hoped that maybe if he stayed quiet, whoever it was would go away.

But luck had never been on his side.

"Hermione?" The sound of a younger woman called.

For a moment, that statement confused him, why would Hermione Granger be here? But he quickly remembered that he was in the girl in question's body at the moment.

"I know you're in there, Hermione. You never miss work without calling, what's wrong? Was it Ron?" The woman said.

Still, Draco remained silent. Hoping desperately that he wouldn't have to pretend to be Hermione Granger. Especially to someone who seems to be quite close to the brunette. After a few minutes of waiting, the woman on the other side of the door spoke louder this time.

"Hermione Jean Granger! If you don't open this door by the time I count to 10 I'm going to explode it and come in myself."

_Well shit_, Draco thought.

He jumped up from his seat when he heard the woman begin to count down from ten. Draco opened up the door to find a very familiar woman with fiery red hair. Standing there was Ginny Weasley, or Potter now Draco supposed.

She was standing there with a surprised look on her face, probably not expecting to see Hermione actually answer the door. It only took a second for her to snap back to a few seconds before and walked right on in.

"James and Albus are staying at the Burrow tonight so as long as little Lily doesn't decide to be born tonight I'm all yours," Ginny said as she sat down on Hermione's couch.

"Um ok, why are you here?" Draco said not sure how to talk to her, let alone how Hermione would.

"Melody sent a Patronus to me and Harry saying that you haven't gone to work today and was wondering what was wrong," She asked with a worried look.

Of course, Hermione Granger misses a day of work and something has to be terribly wrong with her. At least Potter wasn't the one to show up at the door, _that_ would be more than awkward for Draco.

"Hermione?" Ginny said trying to get his attention. It was then that he realized he had spaced out for a moment, he was really screwing this up.

"Oh sorry, uh Ginny.. I haven't been feeling too well today," Draco said coming up with an excuse. Without missing a beat, Ginny reaches over and felt Draco's forehead.

"Well that's odd, you don't feel warm. What's bothering you?" She asked and Draco felt his pulse begin to race.

"Well I uh I have a bad headache, I've been very nauseous, my back is killing me, and um I'm very tired," Draco said making it up as he went.

"How long has this been going on?" She asked curiously.

"A few days but today has been especially awful," Draco answered on the fly.

"Hm, I see..have you been unusually hungry, moody, and have you been constipated?" Ginny asked with the start of a smile.

"Wow, how did you know all that?" Draco asked playing along not understanding where she's going.

"Oh 'Mione, it sounds like you're pregnant!" she said brightly.

Wait, _what_?!


End file.
